Prosocial Behaviour

Introduction

Prosocial behaviour refers to voluntary behaviour aimed to benefit other persons, regardless of the benefactor's motives. It includes a variety of behaviours like sharing, donating, caring, comforting and helping and is often associated with altruism because both concepts involve the pursuit of another's good and may imply common components such as empathy and sympathy (Batson, 1998; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998; Schroeder, Penner, Dovidio & Piliavin, 1995). In this entry, a number of issues related to the determinants and functions of prosocial behaviour are described, drawing from main directions of research and from recent findings.

Determinants and Functions of Prosocial Behaviour

Although the importance of being able to benefit others is quite obvious for the quality of social interactions between individuals and among [Page 767]groups, the determinants of prosocial behaviour that is, the mechanism through which it operates and the functions that are ultimately served remain problematic. On the one hand, it is a matter of debate the extent to which most prosocial behaviour reflects intrinsic altruistic inclinations or motives, or is ultimately instrumental to the satisfaction of egoistic needs like social approval and self-acceptance. Indeed, one may be led to benefit others and even to sacrifice one's own interests and safety for the good of others because of other self-oriented reasons, including feeling good, impressing others, serving an ideal or fulfilling a prophecy. Thus, one may argue that the helper's intentions and expected rewards qualify the nature of prosocial behaviour as either altruistic or egoistic, or a mixture.

On the other hand, the extent to which prosocial behaviour is adaptive for individuals versus society is not clear. Early philosophers addressed these issues as part of their speculation on human nature, reason, and morality. Some, like Thomas Hobbes, conceptualized egoism and self-love as essential traits of human nature and viewed prosocial conduct as an instrumental act that is acquired only to preserve society. Others, like Jean Jacques Rousseau, conceived benevolence and sensitivity towards others as innate propensities that may be corrupted by society. Early personality psychologists echoed these philosophical assumptions when they addressed prosocial and related behaviours, mostly in the context of their reflections on personality development and adjustment. Whereas Sigmund Freud focused on the defensive aspects of prosocial motives, Abraham Maslow advocated the capacity to love, to care, and to transcend contingent self-interest.

Over recent decades, several arguments have been proposed in support of the biological value of altruistic prosocial behaviour on the assumption that evolutionary selection operates mostly through groups other than through individuals. Individual sacrifices are often required to preserve the pool of genes that maximizes the capacity of the species to adapt to the changing environments (Wilson, 1975, 1978). Furthermore, because the potential costs of giving aid to others are often compensated by receiving help from others, reciprocal altruism has gained survival value in predisposing individuals to behave altruistically and to expect that others will perform altruistically toward them (Trivers, 1971). Both heritability and stability coefficients offer some support for the hypothesis that the tendency to behave prosocially is part of our genetic endowment. However, most evolutionary hypotheses are difficult to prove, and the processes and mechanisms through which heredity shapes altruistic motives and behaviour remain highly controversial.

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